


Day 27 - Earthquake, Extreme Weather, Power Outage (27.1)

by fanfictiongreenirises



Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Category: DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bad Weather, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Don't copy to another site, Earthquakes, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, No Man's Land (DCU), Power Outage, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises
Summary: "Dick wondered what Bruce had even intended for them todoin this weather. No one in their right mind – or wrong mind – would even consider being out in this."No 27. OK, WHO HAD NATURAL DISASTERS ON THEIR 2020 BINGO CARD?Earthquake | Extreme Weather | Power Outage
Series: Whumptober 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947217
Comments: 30
Kudos: 111





	Day 27 - Earthquake, Extreme Weather, Power Outage (27.1)

**Author's Note:**

> Set during No Man's Land.
> 
> Shoutout to Aurora for this idea!!! (I hope you enjoy the ending ^~^)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own DC ~~bc if I did, I would've made NML shorter~~

THIS FANFICTION IS HOSTED ON **ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN** , WHERE YOU CAN READ IT FOR **FREE**. IF YOU’RE READING THIS ON A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, IT WAS POSTED THERE **WITHOUT** THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.

Nothing was going right tonight. The storm was wreaking absolute havoc on the destruction that the earthquake had already created. The rain was coming down in sheets, shattering waves of bullets that riddled Dick’s skin as he tried desperately to see through it.

It was different, being in this Gotham. He recognised pretty much nothing – there were no familiar gargoyles to recentre himself with in this storm. Power had tentatively been fed into Gotham, but that was out now as well, with the lightning and the wind.

Dick wondered what Bruce had even intended for them to _do_ in this weather. No one in their right mind – or wrong mind – would even consider being out in this. There just weren’t thieving options.

The rain had made it past the waterproof layer of his suit, and rivets of water kept running down his spine. Despite how much Dick had been moving tonight, he still shivered. It had begun as summer rain, but now, it was _freezing_. The wind blew his hair all over the place, and had it not been for the mask, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his eyes open in this.

Dick’s earpiece was going off. He reached one dripping glove upwards to press it further into his ear. The sound was bad enough as it was, with the radio towers throughout Gotham being destroyed, but the storm meant that the signal was coming and going.

There was a crackling in his ear, and then—

But no, that _wasn’t_ a crackling in his ear – it was sound from the little overhang he’d been standing under, in an attempt to be shielded from the storm. There was the flash of lightning and then thunder, a truly earth-rumbling sound of thunder, and then Dick heard another ominous _crack_.

He didn’t have time to get out of the way. The stone pillar that had been cracked in half, providing him a little bit of shelter, was now falling further into pieces. Dick instinctively crouched down into a little ball and shielded his head. He didn’t know if he cried out when it crumbled down all around him, because it was far too loud to hear himself.

* * *

It was the pain that woke Dick up. He blinked, seeing absolute blackness all around him even when he opened his eyes. There was the steady sound of rain, coming from all around him, but it was a constant patter now, instead of the harsh waves that had poured from the heavens.

Dick’s body felt _heavy_. He didn’t want to move – he was cold and wet, and all he wanted to do was sleep for another decade or so.

It was that very thought that sent bleary warning signals all throughout his brain. Dick pried his eyes open once more, even though there was no point – he knew that the chances of him falling asleep were much too high if he allowed them to close.

Dick moved his fingers a little, relieved when they responded. His gloves rubbed against what felt like stones and rock and broken up bits of concrete. He moved slow, partly because he knew that that was important, to ensure he didn’t injure himself further, and also because he was just too tired to be any more alert.

One of his arms was trapped under what felt like an absolute mountain of rubble. Dick tried his best to stem the panic, and twitched his fingers. A bright spark of pain lit up through his right side as he did so, and he bit his lip to contain the cry of pain that threatened to burst from him.

One arm was down. He still had to check the lower half of his body, something he’d been dreading.

Dick started with his toes, and the relief that shot through him the moment he was able to feel them, to _move_ them, was overwhelming. He moved them again, just for the sake of it, revelling in the knowledge that his spine was alright, at least.

Dick wanted nothing more than _light_. He tried to sit up, to check his legs and get a better assessment of his current situation. This time he couldn’t hold back the whimper from pulling at his arm.

It wouldn’t have mattered even if he hadn’t been trapped. There were giant, broken pieces of concrete less than a metre above him. Dick could feel it even from his little jerked attempt at moving upwards.

Dick only realised he was shivering when he registered the little prickles of pain shooting through his arm and around his ribs. He couldn’t feel his thighs, or most of his face. Dick reached a cold, cold hand down to his legs.

There was a giant slab of concrete covering him waist down. Dick’s fingers trailed it, but even without trying to shove at it, he knew it was no use. There was far too much on top of it to even have a chance of moving it, especially with only one arm.

Something wet was dripping down onto Dick’s face. There was rain steadily pattering down onto him, which made this whole situation all the more depressing.

Dick just wanted to give in and sleep. What was the point of being awake now, only to be rained on, unable to move?

And that was when Dick remembered the comms unit in his ear. His hand went to it immediately, pressing the little button to restart it. His fingers were shaky, his folded elbow grazing the debris that he was surrounded by.

There was nothing.

Dick let out a gasping breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding, and dropped his arm. His elbow hit an edge of broken concrete, and he let out a frustrated grunt of pain as the shock of the blow shot through his arm.

Dick’s hand went to his belt. He was so tired he could barely remember what tools he still had on him. He’d given away two of his torches, that much he recalled.

Something made a splash when Dick moved his hand downward. He frowned, and gently splattered it to check the reach of this puddle beneath him. He’d been hoping that he was lying on relatively dry concrete, but that was probably a futile wish, with this downpour.

Dick fumbled around his hidden pockets. He knew he still had most of his medical supplies remaining – but what was the point of a few packs of bandages, a few pills, some instant ice packs, when you were trapped and unable to move? His handcuffs were still secure, though his second pair had been used earlier that night.

There was one glow stick left.

Dick let out a breath of relief, pulling it free from his pocket and snapping it in the middle with a well-practised move. Slowly, a white glow emerged from it.

Dick had wanted blue glowsticks, just to match his whole theme, but absolutely everyone had given him a concerned look when he'd voiced that. So in the end, he’d ended up settling for a bright white, a colour that pierced through all darkness.

There was something coating the glowstick, though. Dick’s let out a long exhale at the smudges on the tube, bringing it closer towards him to be rub at it.

It was only when Dick brought it close enough to make out the colour that he realised it was red, and dripping from his glove. His eyes widened, heartbeat rising in a way he hadn’t thought himself awake enough for it to do.

There was nothing piercing his glove – it was mostly intact, with the normal amount of scrapes and scratches here and there. Dick carefully placed the glowstick in his mouth and brought his fingers back to that ominous puddle he was lying in.

His fingers dripped the liquid all over his body as he brought his hand back up to check, to make sure there really was something to worry about before Dick jumped to conclusions.

 _Fuck_.

He was lying in a puddle of his own blood, and help wasn’t coming.

**Author's Note:**

> There might be a sequel to this? No promises though ^~^
> 
> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> EDIT: This now has [a sequel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27281911)!!


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